Little things to get my curvy butt into shape

If you don't want to hear about exercise, then I apologize.

I'm a curvy gal and I have no problem with having said curves. What I do have a problem with is when those curves seem to expand the lines of my wardrobe. This being said, I started Zumba Core a year ago and loved it. I've always been a dancer but this was exercise made fun.

As the months rolled by, I noticed how I was tightening up those curves and loving it. I'm over 40, so anything this simple makes me a happy cougar. Haha. Then I started night school while I kept my day job....see the downhill coming? I had people tell me that since I don't eat much when I'm nervous that'd I'd easily keep weight off while I stressed through the time as I ran from place to place. If this was true then I call FOUL on all of you. I didn't lose anything and as I got busier, I had to chose between time to sleep and time to workout. The workout lost and the weight gained. Ouch.

I'm back to what I was before I started Zumba and I used the break between semesters to get back into it. I still love it. I really missed it. What I have to figure out now is how to fight the battle of the bulge when I'm fighting to keep my sanity. School is back in and there is still no time to workout as I'm now doing externship, day job, and night classes. Did anyone notice that sleep wasn't on that list???

This is my plan and we'll see how far I can carry it. I love to dance. And in that love is exercise. So I've already started playing beat heavy music (techno, house, belly dance) at work so I can sway, shimmy, and do moves that don't require my rear in a chair. Yes, I work in full view of the clients so I have to time this little routine butt (giggle) it's doable.

As I wait on the microwave to heat up my coffee, I do squats or knee bends to keep me moving. I do leg lifts and varieties of ballet moves as I stand on hold with insurance companies. I'm cleaning off my stationary bike so I can ride while I study. I even wear my ear buds while doing housework so I can do a few moves while I straighten up the house. None of these require money for the gym. Thank heavens above. And if Shakira can look a-freaking-mazing as a mom who belly dances, then why can't I?

What can you do to increase your workout possibilities? Even sitting at your desk can give you ways of nudging your muscle mass into some sort of shape. Seriously, if someone can do Kegels while in the line at the bank then you can do lunges in the break room. Wink.

                                       )))Corset Hugs(((  

Ginny Lynn

Wench Writer   

I like my opening lines like I like my men - strong & memorable

An opening line in a novel should be better than any pickup line you have ever heard or any one liner joke that tickled your funny bone. In my opinion.

 

Here's some that struck me.

 

 

The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel. —William Gibson, Neuromancer (1984)

 

Every summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his wife, Shuyu. —Ha Jin, Waiting (1999)

 

It was a pleasure to burn. —Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 (1953)

 

He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad. —Raphael Sabatini, Scaramouche (1921)

 

All children, except one, grow up – J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan (1902).

 

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit (1937).

As I've only written a few manuscripts, I've learned from the Georgia Romance Writers that this is an opportunity to grab the reader by the fictional collar. If you can nab them at the first line then they'll keep reading.

I'm someone who admires a jaunty one liner and I've learned to carry them over into my writing. It doesn't matter if it's sexy enough to melt the ink on the page or funny enough to have you wanting a bathroom break, I try for it.

I learned with the first two books that were published that I opened with good scenes but they needed some lightening struck into them. So, upon talking to other authors, I saw that I wasn't putting some of my sense of wit into the first few pages. In hindsight, I was leading you by the hand as I coaxed you into liking my story. Now, I'm grabbing that same hand and just putting the words into your warm palms. I'm slamming it there for you to see that I'm worth your time.

So, in the learning curve that is my life, I redid the opening lines on those books and then ran a few exercises to come up with several lines that would yank me into awareness of a storyline. The results were eye opening. Some people may not get my wicked sense of humor but they got what I was portraying.

The next thing that I did was that when I came up with new plot ideas, I instantly wrote down one or two opening lines that fit the genre, voice, and suspense level of the idea. It carried through where I could then do a small paragraph that I used as a guideline for the tone of the book. It may not work that way for you guys but it helped widen the creative tunnel for me.

So Authors, do you open with a line or paragraph that has your mouths watering? Readers, do you want that first taste to be the bite that makes you fall in love with a writer?
I hope so.


)))Corset Hugs(((


Ginny Lynn
Wench Writer

My Vices

vice¹

vīs/

noun

noun: vice

1. 1.

   immoral or wicked behavior.

What vices do you have?

 

I drink coffee. I may not add all of the sugar anymore but I still love coffee.

 

I interrupt people when I have to say something. It's sad and I'm working on it. I'm a middle child in a big family plus have an awful memory so I had to fight to be heard (before I forgot what I wanted to say). I apologize.

 

 

 

I'm a figit. If I'm sitting somewhere, with nothing to do, (like watching a movie or sitting through a lecture), then I restlessly move my legs or hands. I have to get the energy out somehow.

 

I may not be seen actually eating a candy bar but when I crave chocolate, I have to have it.

 

 

Sweet Tea. Yes, sweet. Yes, strong. I'm southern and don't need an excuse.

 

 

 

 

I am constantly thinking if things in a dirty way. But at least I'm good at it.

 

I need items with actual sugar in them, not that fake crap. I honestly think the altered sweetners are worst for you in the long run.

 

I have a thing about vampires. I know, DUH!

 

 

Vanity, thy name is woman. I can not stand going out with some type of makeup on as I don't like how I look without it.

 

Impatience. My words have been "Patience? Never met the chick."

 

I'm stubborn. I stick to my guns until after I'm hit over the head with one. I'm part Indian and part Scottish so I have no choice in the matter.

 

 

Tell me some of your vices. I'd love to see what you run up against every day.

 

)))Corset Hugs(((

 

Ginny Lynn

Wench Writer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January Firsts - First Guest Blogger - Bryonna Nobles

Happy New Year! As we head deeper into 2014, most of us reflect on what has happened in the past year and start making resolutions for what we want in the coming year. 
 

There have been some years where I’ve sat down and thought my life was going nowhere. Nothing is different but I realize now, I’m wrong. There’s not a year I can think of where something hasn’t changed. Someone died, someone was born, we moved. A year is a lot longer than we think. It’s up to us what we accomplish in that time period.

Did you know that the most common New Year’s Resolutions are lose weight/eat healthy, stop drinking, stop smoking, etc. These are all great goals but 99.9% of the time, they’re never kept so I never make New Year’s Resolutions. 

I make goals for the year.  Nothing can be accomplished with a snap of the fingers. There’s no magic wand to give you the life you want. It doesn’t matter how many scratchers you buy, the odds of retiring on them are very low. You have to work for things you want. 

First, you need your long term goal.

 

My Long Term Goal:  To be a published writer who can live off the earnings of her books.

This isn’t something that will happen overnight or even in the next few years but one day I hope to accomplish this. It’s what I really want. To stay at home and write and have people who love my books out there.

I don’t have to be a millionaire. I just want fans who get my book and who appreciate the work that goes into writing them.

You can also have more than one long term goal. 

Long Term Goal 2: I want to be on a panel at Dragon*con. 

I’ve gone to Dragon*con http://www.dragoncon.org/ in Atlanta every year for about five years now. And I have seen some amazing authors get up and speak. I always think it’s amazing how much some of them can pack a room. I really want to be one of those authors someday. 

Alright, so here we have some long term goals. Great! 

Once you have those – and you can have as many as you like – it’s time to figure out what you need to accomplish them. 

At the beginning of 2013, I hadn’t finished a book. I’d started a ton but hadn’t actually finished one. I began to wonder if I should continue writing.  

Then I paid to take a 6 week class with Nancy Knight and it was the best money I ever spent.

 

Nancy Knight is one of the founders of Georgia Romance Writers http://www.georgiaromancewriters.org/, she runs the Writer’s Track at Dragon*con, she helped found BellBridge Books http://www.bellebooks.com/ until she left them on good terms to become a literary agent. Tired of having wonderful books turned down because they were a little too different, Nancy quit being an agent and founded her second small press publishing house, Gilded Dragonfly Books. 

If Nancy offers you a class, you take it. 

I learned a lot from her but one of the things she did me that struck a chord more than anything was she made us promise to write a little every day. Set a writing goal and accomplish it every day. 

My Daily Writing Goal: 500 words a day. 

I usually exceed this but I can get out 500 words usually within half an hour and so it was an easily accomplished goal that I didn’t feel overwhelmed by. If you look at your daily writing goal and cringe, it’ll trip you up. Lower it. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll accomplish. 

You can also do this as a “I’m going to write for XX amount of time” goal. That didn’t work for me because I’d procrastinate until I got nothing done. 

After I set this goal, I realized that I needed to prove to myself – and no one else – that I was a writer. It doesn’t matter what the rest of the world thinks. They’re not you. So I set myself three goals for 2013.

My Goals for 2013 

1.      Finish the Book. While I’m still making it pretty, I have completed my manuscript Moonstruck. In March of 2013, I entered the Finish the Book contest at Georgia Romance Writers – you put in $5, saying you’ll finish the book. Whoever entered and completes this task, gets entered into a drawing to win the pot. I won! Woot!

2.      Enter the Maggies. The Maggie Awards http://www.georgiaromancewriters.org/the-maggies/ are given out by Georgia Romance Writers every year. I’d never entered despite being a member for three years. I was too scared and had never finished my books.

 

 

Not only did I enter the Unpublished Paranormal Maggies this year, I took second place.

 

 

1.      Earn my Pro Pin. A Pro Pin is given out by Romance Writers of America http://www.rwa.org/ . You have to have finished your book and began to send it out for publication and have either been rejected or accepted. It’s something to show that you’re now taking what friends and family have thought of as a hobby and showing you’re perusing it in a professional manner.

 

 

 

I received this pin from Georgia Romance Writers president, Anna Steffl at our December Holiday Party.

I accomplished my 2013 goals and am now working toward my goals for next year.

 

My Goals for 2014:

 1.      Get a Critique Group.

2.      Enter the Golden Hearts. Romance Writers of America’s Unpublished Romance Writing contest. This is the Oscars of the Romance Novel World.

3.      Get everything set up for the Maggies this year. I’m in charge of the Maggie Awards with Georgia Romance Writers this year.

4.      Submit, submit, submit. Get my book out there in front of editors. 

So those are the goals I’m working on for 2014. Some of them I’ve already accomplished.  

What goals are you working on?

 

Bryonna Nobles is a paranormal romance writer specializing in shifters and Greek Mythology. She is an active member of Georgia Romance Writers. After serving two years as their membership chair, she is now heading their award committee as the Maggie Chair. She is also a volunteer for the Dragon*con writer’s track. 

Georgia born and raised, her books take paranormal aspects and put them in small, Southern towns with a very Steel Magnolias meets My Big Fat Greek Wedding with werewolves feel.  

A Hellenic Pagan, she loves educating people on where different religious practices and holiday traditions come from. Be sure to check out her blog:  The Witch Next Door.thewitchnextdoor@blogspot.com